TTU K-12 Staff, Administrators Sow and Reap at Fall Conferences

By Leslie Cranford, Section Manager

TTU K-12 leaders have had a busy season attending conferences in and outside of Texas, to gather leading-edge knowledge in the realm of K-12 and online learning, as well as to distribute information about our programs to statewide, national and international communities.

At the TASA/TASB conference in September in Dallas, TTU K-12 was a Silver sponsor. Attendees included Justin Louder, interim superintendent; Jared Lay, director of Recruitment and International Partnerships; and Victoria Qin, regional and international coordinator of Recruitment and International Partnerships. This conference allows the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards to collaborate toward improving governance and leadership in Texas public schools and enhancing statewide support for public education. This is the largest gathering of public education policy makers in Texas.

The international conference iNACOL (now the Aurora Institute) convened in October in Palm Springs, Ca. with TTU K-12 featured as an Emerald-level sponsor. Both Lay and Qin attended, as well as Cary Sallee, senior director for operations, eLearning & Academic Partnerships. The mission of this nonprofit organization is to drive the transformation of education systems and accelerate the advancement of breakthrough policies and practices to ensure high-quality learning for all. They strive to transform education systems so that they work for all students, regardless of background, and that they support all learners for the rapidly changing future that awaits them following their K-12 education.

The 63rd Annual TCA Professional Growth Conference, the largest statewide gathering of professional counselors, met in November in Fort Worth. With TTU K-12 as a Silver sponsor, staff in attendance included Annette Coon, academic advisor; Jeff Oldham, assistant principal; and Israel Galvan, assistant registrar. Programs are designed for professional counselors who work in a variety of settings including private practice, primary and higher education, criminal justice, community mental health centers, hospitals, nursing homes, managed care facilities, and more, and help them build solid counseling foundations.